One of the keys to success in any area of life is to
study someone who has gone before you and learn from
their attitudes and behaviors.
For those who aspire to be hard rock guitar
virtuosos, Paul Gilbert's life, website and
experiences can provide valuable insight into what
it takes to become a rock superstar.Gilbert is known for his speedy style,
alternative picking method and unique string
skipping technique.It is clear
from any reading you do about Gilbert, that instead
of being concerned only about the technical aspects
of guitar, he sincerely believes that playing guitar
is fun.So many musicians find
it a drudgery to practice their instruments and it
really holds them back from developing the passion
and spirit that they need to be a truly great
artist.One look at Gilbert's
website, and you will immediately notice that
Gilbert loves playing guitar, never takes himself
too seriously, and gets a kick out of the rock
guitar scene.Gilbert's attitude
is undoubtedly one of the reasons that he was named
#4 on Guitar One's list of “Top Shredders of
All Time”.

Gilbert was born in 1966 in Carbondale, IL but spent
most of his childhood in Pennsylvania.When he was only five years old he started
learning how to play the guitar.
His parents gave him a toy guitar and a toy amp to
play with, and he was hooked.
Perhaps getting his start with toy guitars
contributed to Gilbert's attitude about the guitar
being fun.In his younger years,
Gilbert was influenced by the rock sounds of the
Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Kiss and Heart.By the time he was 15, he was playing with
his first band, Tau Zero.Early
in his career he was compared to the now famous
guitarist
Yngwie Malmsteen.In
1984, Gilbert took a leap of faith and moved out to
California to pursue his musical education.He attended the Guitar Institute of
Technology and within a year had moved up to becing
an instructor instead of just an average student.

Not too long after moving to California, Paul
Gilbert joined up with a band called Electric Fence,
which eventually morphed into Gilbert's first
well-known band, Racer X.Racer
X formed around the idea of becoming the most
extreme hard rock band around and was highly
influenced by
Judas Priest.It gave
Gilbert the opportunity to showcase his impressive
shredding skills with like-minded musicians in tow.One of Gilbert's most famous and enduring
collaborations began during his
Racer X years when he started playing with
Bruce Bouilett.They were
clearly a dynamic duo and impressed audiences with
their extremely fast guitar skills.Bouilett wowed fans by simply being able to
keep up with Gilbert.As always,
Gilbert kept his sense of humor and ability to have
fun and enjoy the music.The
band gained a reputation for being fun-loving and
not taking their riotous music too seriously.Racer X rehearsed fervently and toured around
the Los Angeles area to make a name for themselves.In 1986 Racer X put out its first album,
Street Lethal, which featured heavy
guitar solos played as fast as the band
members could possibly touch their fretboards.Racer X released a follow-up
album, Second Heat, but for Gilbert it was
time to move on.

After Racer X put out Second Heat, Gilbert
decided to join
Billy Sheehan who had formerly played with
David Lee Roth and form a new band, Mr. Big.It is rumored that the name for the band was
gleaned from a song by the band Free.Members of the group included Gilbert, Billy
Sheehan, Pat Torpey and Eric Martin.Mr. Big released its first album, self-titled
Mr. Big and enjoyed a positive reception from
fans.However, the band really
struck gold when it released its 1991 album, Lean
Into It.The band is still
most famous for the smash hit “To Be With You” which
reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list.During his time with Mr. Big, Gilbert showed
that he could be more of a group player and cut back
a bit on his wild, fast style.
Still, when the band played live, Gilbert took the
opportunity to show off his impressive, frenzied
guitar skills.

In 1996, Gilbert struck out from Mr. Big to produce
his own solo albums.His first
album, King of Clubs, came out in 1997.The album was Gilbert's first solo attempt,
but, as always, Gilbert kept it fun and light by
including contributions by old band mates from Racer
X and Mr. Big.One track that
especially stands out to Gilbert fans, “The Jam”, is
18 minutes long and features Bruce Bouilett,
Gilbert's guitar compatriot from Racer X.In 1998 Gilbert went on his first solo tour
ever and he followed up his first solo album effort
with Flying Dog.Hereleased Beehive Live in 1999 and
Alligator Farm in 2000.

Always a Beatles fan, Gilbert worked on a Beatles
cover band project in 2003 entitled “Yellow Matter
Custard”.It gave him another
opportunity to have fun playing guitar and doing
what he loves.“Yellow Matter
Custard” gave Gilbert a start in working on tribute
band projects and he followed up with a Led Zeppelin
tribute called “Hammer of the Gods” and a Rush
tribute called “Cygnus and the Sea Monsters”.In 2006 he played three shows with some of
his former band mates entitled An Amazing
Journey: A Tribute to The Who.In order to truly honor The Who, Gilbert and his
cohorts completely destroyed their instruments after
the concerts.Many great
guitarists would never dream of decimating their
equipment for the purpose of a tribute show, but
this is just one more example of Gilbert's wacky,
fun-loving attitude about playing guitar.

Gilbert has so enjoyed his guitar playing that he
often participates in instructional guitar workshops
to help would-be guitarists cultivate great style.Dating back to the 80s when he became an
instructor at the Guitar Institute of Technology,
Gilbert has always been willing to help.He regularly wrote articles for Guitar
Player magazine all during the 80s and 90s,
including a series entitled “Terrifying Guitar 101”.He has also created a CD-Rom and several
videos to help teach others how to rip the way he
does.On his website, Paul's
fun, wacky style is exemplified by his comments and
advice to young guitarists.He
simply advises any up-and-coming guitar player to
practice all the time and be sure to learn something
new every day.He also includes
a list of songs that he thinks any accomplished
player should master.The list
includes “Circumstances” by Rush, “Mother Mary” by
UFO, “Little Dreamer” by
Van Halen, “If I Fell” by the Beatles, “Riff
Raff” by AC/DC, “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” by the
Ramones, “Gettin' Betta” by
Pat Travers, “Day of the Eagle” by
Robin Trower, “ Majestic” by Journey, and “No
Matter What” by Badfinger.
Gilbert continues to teach guitar at the Guitar
Institute of Technology, and has even been named
honorary dean of the institution.

Some of Gilbert's most recent work includes an
instrumental guitar album entitled Get Out of My
Yard which features Bruce Bouilett, Gilbert's
guitar playing partner in crime from their Racer X
days.In an interview, Paul
claimed that he resisted doing an instrumental
guitar album for a long time since he has always
been a fan of bands with singers, like The Beatles
and Led Zeppelin.However, as a
guitar player he felt he should put his creative
gift to use and make something his own.Get Out of My Yard includes
mind-blowing guitar acrobatics including the use of
a human capo, which makes replicating some tracks
impossible.Gilbert claimed his
place among all star guitar players by joining up
with
Joe Satriani and John Petrucci on the G3 tour
in 2007.Paul's latest
instrumental guitar album Silence Followed by a
Deafening Roar was released in 2008.Currently, he tours and plays music with his
wife Emi, who plays the keyboard.He claims that Emi has perfect pitch and
helps balance out all the musical ideas that he has
flowing through his mind.

Through a varied and successful career, Paul Gilbert
has always had fun playing the guitar.He has suffered some hearing loss due to all
the loud shows he has played over the years, but he
even keeps a light-hearted attitude about this
possibly debilitating issue by making jokes about
the headphones that he now wears on stage.Gilbert is a truly unique individual who
celebrates his wacky side by creating his own quirky
website and becoming increasingly bold with his solo
projects.As long as Paul
Gilbert stays in touch with his sense of humor and
his love of the guitar, he will continue making
music and amazing fans all over the world for many
years to come.